Mailboy Holidays
by Autistic Goldfish
Summary: A bunch of oneshots concerning the characters of Mailboy. Not all of them will be holidays, and I don't know how many there will actually be. There probably won't be many until Mailboy is actually completed, but hey, I have to put these random little oneshots somewhere.
1. The First Day of School

**_Disclaimer: I do not own or have any association with Pokemon._**

**_Wait, Pokemon wasn't even mentioned in this story right here other than Arbok. Oh well, don't sue me anyways, but I do own the characters here and the ideas presented are the ideas I came up with myself._**

* * *

_Some say hate and judgment is unnatural, when in reality it is part of every animal's nature to find differences and make decisions based on them. We would all be dead if we acted the same in the winter as we did in the summer._

* * *

Young kids all crowded around outside the school, nervously clinging to their parents' shirts. One of them was especially scared, and hid behind his mother, not daring to step out from the comfort of her legs. His hair was the lighter than the whitest cloud, his skin was paler than clean linen sheets, with flecks of extra sunscreen here and there, and eyes the color of roses in the spring.

The teachers eventually appeared through the thick doors of the brick building and one by one lead the lines of children inside. They all reluctantly let go of their encouraging parents and marched down the hallway with tiny backpacks filled with notebooks and markers. They all had brown and blonde and black hair, and brown and blue and green eyes, and skin turned tan from being outside in the sun. All except for the shy boy whose mother had to forcefully removed his hands from her leg and gently push him along in the line, all while holding back tears as her baby grew up, worrying about how he would be treated.

The string of kids arrived in a room labeled "Ms. Smith's Kindergarten" and were shepherded a blue rug, all sitting criss-cross-applesauce, nervous but excited for school to begin. All except the shy, white-haired boy, who pulled his knees to his chest and prayed that school would end soon.

Ms. Smith sat in front of them all, brown hair up in a bun, skin dark from her time tanning by the pool with her friends, feeling confident that she could handle her third year of teaching. She explained to the children that they would raise their hands to speak, that they would be respectful and listen when other kids talk, that they would be kind and considerate when speaking. She asked them all their names, and when she reached the white-haired boy, with his name at the bottom of her roster, he weakly said "here" and she noticed his red eyes, and she worried that he would be made fun of, but figured that it would turn out okay.

She figured wrong and a girl pointed out his eyes, and everyone stared at him. The white-haired boy frowned as they muttered to one another, and was obviously holding back tears once they started calling him names. Ms. Smith tried in vain to calm everyone down, and mere seconds later the boy was screaming back at all of them, occasionally hiccuping and sobbing as he called them ugly, common, boring, stupid, mean, idiots, jerks, liars.

She eventually gathered the boy up in her arms and as she walked away he buried his tear-stained face in her shirt. She took him into the coatroom and set him down before retrieving some cookies and milk, which he refused to eat until she left.

It took her forty-three minutes to calm the rest of the class down, and seven weeks to get them to grudgingly apologize. It would be three years, two weeks and four days before the most squeamish girl could look at him without shrieking and quickly diverting her gaze, and five years before he finally could make a friend with another outcast. Ms. Smith knew that the boy would have a rough childhood, and for that she felt genuinely sorry for him. For the boy with hair as cold as the deepest snow, skin as pale as Arbok fangs, and eyes as red as his enemies' blood.

* * *

_However, the decisions made are not always the right ones. A castle built in a valley up high in the mountains has good protection from the nearby war until the hottest summer when the snow melts and the rivers flood the kingdom._

* * *

A/N: Yeah, so, basically I was struck with a few different ideas for mini companion stories to go with Mailboy, and once Mailboy is finished then there'll also be mini companion stories for the other main stories in the series. No, this isn't the rest of the series I mentioned before, because those are most certainly not going to be mini, but this is just to expand on the characters of Mailboy and their lives before/after they meet and stuffs. Also some random shipping stuff because nothing is complete until every character is shipped :3. Not everything here is going to be canon, but some of it will be. There won't be anything set in the future until Mailboy is completed to avoid spoilers, unless if it's something completely un-canon.

As for this particular story here, it was inspired by Sandra Cisneros' story "Eleven" and my own experiences with isolation and loneliness. It seems as if every kid has felt like nobody was there or ever would be there at some point in their lives, so I'm pretty certain most people can relate to the frustration and anger behind it all. However, this story was meant to be a bit more focused on how it can change you, and how it happens to people of all ages. A lot of people have told me that hate is something that people learn, but I strongly disagree with that. I believe that exclusion, hate, anger, fear, and everything else is natural. But, even though it's natural, it shouldn't be something just accepted. Nature isn't a particularly fair and happy place, the world in general isn't and never will be, but that doesn't mean everyone should turn into a bunch of assholes and criminals. You should still try to be a good person, because even if when you die nothing really matters (or it does if your religious or whatever idk I don't understand that stuff) it matters in the short term and it does make the world a better place, even if it'll never be perfect. I'm not making sense anymore, but hopefully you get the general idea. End rant.

So yeah. Let me know what you think of this, if it made sense, what it made you feel, blah blah blah. This is un-beta'd so there's probably errors galore, but I tried to fix what I could.


	2. Halloween

**Disclaimer: I do not own or have any association with Pokémon. This is fanwork and I do not profit from it.**

Cara sighed, checking her map again. There had to be a bar _somewhere _in this blasted city.

Children darted past, shrieking with laughter, Pumpkaboo baskets and pillow cases half-stuffed with candy held closely against their chests. She once again wondered how the city was so safe that so many kids went trick-or-treating alone.

Maybe it had something to do with Lumiose's lack of bars. She scowled and stepped aside as a young boy dressed as a Haunter chased after a Meowth that had stolen his candy.

The two Pokeballs in her pocket clacked as Cara randomly chose another street to wander down, feeling like they were trying to weigh her down, drag her behind. Her dad had left her with an Excadrill today, in case she got in any trouble, which was a testament to the fact that he spent a total of five minutes with her before leaving for some city with a Tower of Mastery or something like that. He babbled about some sort of evolution that made Pokémon even stronger, and how it involved stones and friendship between Pokémon and trainer.

If it really did have anything to do with the latter, there was no way he was going to get it to work.

The other Pokeball contained something far more valuable. It had her Swalot, a Pokémon her dad didn't know she had. He had spent hours drilling her on Pokémon tiers for Hoenn, her native region, and she knew that it was Never-Used, the worst rating possible.

However, she preferred it to the other Pokémon her dad gave her. Maybe because she caught and evolved it by herself, maybe because it was so friendly to her, maybe because it was her own secret. Whatever the reason, she brought it everywhere with her, unbeknownst to her dad.

An empty café came into view and she stepped in, praying they had _some_ sort of alcoholic drink, or at least an idea on where to get said drink.

A man sat in one of the corner booths, sobbing, and cobwebs and dust covered the tables and floor.

"Well?" someone snapped, and Cara looked up to see a gray-haired man in a suit. "Do you want something or not? We're closing in half an hour."

Cara mentally snorted. No wonder the place was empty.

"Do you know where I can get some beer?" she asked as politely as she could manage.

The man rolled his eyes. "This is Lumiose, girl. If you want fine wine go to one of those restaurants, but we don't participate in any of those… activities."

Care scowled. "Thanks," she ground out before turning on her heels for the door.

"Wait!"

Her scowl deepened.

"Take that guy with you," the guy said, gesturing to the weeping man in the corner. "I don't need him scaring away my customers."

Cara carefully raised an eyebrow. "You do that without his help," she said slowly, examining the man in the corner. He was obviously tall, far taller than she, with short, curly black hair and a slightly oversized nose. He was kind of cute in that overgrown-Poochyena way.

"I'll tip you," the manager offered.

Cara blinked. "…What?"

"I'll tip you $500 if you take him out of here."

If that meant what she thought it meant… Cara purposefully strode over to the curly-haired man and pulled him out of the booth. He didn't resist at all as she stood him on his feet and led him to the door.

"Tip please," she said, but the manager scowled and just pushed them out the door.

Cara stared at the door behind her in awe and fury. He didn't…

Bracing herself, she threw herself at the door, but it was locked.

"Asswipe," she muttered. The curly-haired man didn't respond. "Well, do you have anywhere you need to go?" Cara asked.

The man hiccupped. "No…"

Cara sighed. First her dad, then the Halloween party, now this…

"Will you be fine by yourself?" she asked hopefully, and the man started bawling again. "That's a no then," she mumbled, kicking a rock across the sidewalk. "Do you have a hotel room anywhere?" she tried. The man didn't respond, so she repeated the question, louder this time.

"R-Richissime," he sobbed. "Second floor."

Cara's eyes bugged slightly. Richissime was, by far, the most expensive hotel in all of Kalos.

She made her way to a main street and hailed a taxi, paying what little money she had on her for the fare. The man didn't say a word until they had arrived and made their way through the fancy foyer and up the stairs. He swayed slightly as he walked, and started mumbling incoherently sometime after their arrival.

The room he was staying in was huge, with a master bathroom and a giant, fluffy bed stacked high with pillows. After a moments' consideration, Cara dumped him on the couch and claimed the bed for herself, climbing in fully dressed.

She clapped her hands, the lights turned off, and she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning found her with a bucket of water, repeatedly dunking the man's, Devan's, head into it. He had obviously somehow managed to get wasted the night before, and had a massive hangover that morning, still acting intoxicated.

After a while he shoved the bucket over and glared at her.

"I'm _fine_," he snapped, "and who the fuck are you anyways?"

"I'm Cara," she said, "and you need to explain a few things to me. First and foremost, where did you get alcohol? If I could've found a bar in this bloody city I would be in the same position as you right now. Second of all, what went wrong enough in your life to make you drink in the most beautiful city in the world?"

Devan snorted and leaned back against the wall. "A funeral."

"A funeral? In Lumiose?"

"No. Up near Laverre."

As if she had any idea where that was. "Um, okay then. Whose funeral?"

"Significant other's."

"You can't just say girlfriend, you know," Cara said, rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't a girl," Devan mumbled, reaching for a towel.

Cara nodded. "Then you say boyfriend, moron. When was this? Yesterday?"

His pity face disappeared for a moment and was replaced by shock and relief, as if he was surprised she didn't care. Then the mournful look returned. "Two months ago…"

"And you're _still _drinking yourself into oblivion after _two months?_ How the bloody hell could you afford to stay here this long?" Cara demanded.

"I come from a wealthy family," he said stiffly, "and we had been dating for three years. He was going to propose to me, I found the ring after he died, and I talked to his sister. He was going to propose to me here, in this city, in front of the Prism Tower."

Cara stared, speechless. "…I'm sorry," she said after a while.

"Not your fault," he muttered. "Mine."

She shook her head. "Well, I wouldn't recommend drinking like that again. Where'd you get the alcohol, anyways?"

"Wine," he answered. "Lots and lots of wine. They kicked me out, though. Said I looked to haggard, cried too much. Scared business away."

Damn he was rich. "So… what are you planning on doing now?"

"What am I supposed to do?" She was going to start dunking his head again if he kept acting so pitiful. "Lionel's _dead._"

"Well, he probably doesn't want you murdering your liver," Cara offered. "I'm going to Kanto in a couple weeks, and I need somebody to go with." This was a bad idea. "You can come with me if you want." Rule Number 1 of being a girl; You did _not_ ask strange men to go _anywhere_ with you where you might be alone together.

But, if he really was gay…

"Kanto?" Curiosity interrupted that sad face again. He definitely needed to move on now. "I don't think I've been there before."

Any doubts Cara had about bringing him along disappeared as he struck up a conversation about the gyms of various regions, and their pros and cons. He seemed to almost forget his loss as they moved onto the subject of battle tiers, and he agreed that her Swalot was the best Pokémon she had.

They left a week early, even, before Cara's dad returned from his Mega Evolution city.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I was planning on making it more Halloween-themed, and talking about the Halloween party Cara was at a little bit more, but it ended up like this and I'm pleased enough with it, until the ending-ish part. Then it just went poof and floof and bleh.

So yeah... This is how Cara and Devan met! Originally this was actually going to happen in Jubilife City in Sinnoh but I kind of fell in love with the Kalos region and wanted to write a story taking place in there but I can't really do that with Mailboy or its sequel(s?) so instead it just wheedled its way into a mini-story.

Lionel's going to be talked about a _lot_ more, whether in here or in the actual Mailboy story or both I'm not sure, but you can count on him being mentioned again at some point.

On one last note, happy early Halloween!


End file.
